


E pluribus unum

by EggFriedReus



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: BAMF Peter Parker, F/M, Hurt Peter Parker, Insecure Michelle Jones, Peter Parker is a Mess, Time Travel Fix-It, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark is alive, and women, cuz im posting too late at night, cuz mj would smack be back to the womb, minimal tags for now, miss me with that sexist shit, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-20 19:21:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20680607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EggFriedReus/pseuds/EggFriedReus
Summary: Peter gives up on his old life to fix himself a new one. This time, everyone is going to live..





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [To stand up again, to protect you, to love you](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20677961) by [YumiHoshiko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YumiHoshiko/pseuds/YumiHoshiko). 

It was all a front. Morgan knew it, Happy knew it, and even in his retirement, Rhodey knew it as well. Pepper had known it. In life; in death. The fake smiles. Neatly kept clothes and up-to-date hairstyles. Peter had had enough The only thing that kept him going was the fact that he knew if he gave up, then what would happen to Morgan? He drove on forward for her and her alone. Not the millions of others who seemed addicted to seeing him as an all-powerful, all-knowing figure. Not all the fake friends around him, or even for those out there who relied on Stark Industries for their livelihoods. Call him selfish, but he had done it for Morgan, to make the world a better place for her alone. Tony would've wanted it that way. Tony would've wanted him to live it too, but they're ok now. Peter could let go, knowing that everything would be fine now if it continued. 

Peter Parker was CEO of Stark Industries, the multi-trillion-dollar company that had a branch in every market across the globe. He was a politician, arguing points for all - to help as much as he could with the backing of the company left to him in Tony Stark's final Will and Testament. The greatest and leading current mind of humanity, striving forward in leaps and bounds with every personal discovery: curing 14 life-threatening conditions: cancer, dementia, Parkinsons. The list continued. 57 personal awards at the age of 26.. 

If Peter Parker put his name to something, it became gold plated and was worshipped by the scientific community. With such great mentors to get him to such a place, it was no surprise. Mechanical engineering under the late, great Tony Stark; all three sciences from Bruce Banner. The Incredible Hulk, and the second-highest owner of PhD's, after Peter Parker himself. Being a trained surgeon, studying under Doctor Stephen Strange. There was no element that he didn't push and stretch his already limited being into.

As Spider-Man, Peter Parker was a figure of hope. An almighty pillar that others looked up to with steady gazes. Earth's greatest defender. Who fought all sized fights, never letting the petty criminals overrun the little guy. A second coming underneath let him focus on the public aspects; not that him being Spider-Man wasn't public. 

No, no, no. Far from it. Dubbed 'The Framing of Spider-Man' was the year-long period in which Peter was ostracised from the world. Forced out of New York City, halted from joining college whilst the perfect Pepper Potts patched everything up. She had tutored him on everything she knew. Peter and his wife had learnt everything they could from Pepper before she retired in 2024. Mysterio had done more damage in death then he had in life, he had had the last laugh, the final hurrah. Peter's life had never been the same since. 

That had been the catalyst into his current life. The front cover of Vogue magazine, business weekly, controlling the stock market with his sheer presence. However, he would hand it all back, without a doubt: if only he could have her back. His sweet flower. A steadfast rock in his life that had kept him tethered. MJ. He missed her touch. The sweet nothing's she would whisper. Ego bursting insults and a second view on things whenever he needed it. A ray of sunshine in a thunderstorm, but also an anchor for the high times.

They came in the night. He remembered it all. How could he forget? Burned into his brain like a poorly moulded bat-brand. The image of her being stolen from his watch. If he had been faster... If he had been alert... He was weak. Unprepared. He had felt as if nothing could ever go wrong - then everything had. He had not seen her again for a half year. But he knew her to be dead from the very first day. He could feel it. Deep in his being. He had felt empty. Lonely.

He explicitly remembered 'The Clearing.' Nicknamed after when the Germans would 'clear out' the Jewish ghettos. Peter remembered the bloodthirst he had had. A rage directed at any he came across. All his grief had met a breaking point. Any criminal, any villain had been slain. Like a wounded animal. He had been ruthless, unkempt, a 'cyclone of death.' As the Bugle had called him. And he wasn't afraid to admit it. 

The things he recalled. The almost war-like injuries he had sustained and powered on through to the end. Aunt May's bloody corpse, MJ being torn from his grasp, Tony dying a mere foot from him. Wanda's body under the rubble. Losing Bucky in that Ukrainian winter and killing Bucky in that Finnish snow: the subsequent rescue of Sam Wilson. Pepper's frail form being decimated by one of the few natural diseases left uncured. Life wasn't fair, it seemed to rope all possible happiness he had from his grasp, leaving him with nothing but the memories of what the fibres had been like, the tethers and entwines of material he had once owned and wrapped around him. 

Yet, over all of that, he remembered 'The Clearing' the most. It was an action he felt no remorse for; no second feelings. He had been driven to the point where he didn't get sad, didn't understand pain. He felt- He felt nothing. He had been forced to that point by these people, and he had enjoyed giving it back. Maybe why that's why he thought about it more. He didn't know, he didn't care. Not anymore.

Clad in a sludgy black he had torn into the night, thugs fell, prisons burned, victims destroyed. Villains spread across the seven continents. Not in flocking or spreading, but in pain and parts, literal parts: arms and legs. The punch that sent Mac Gargan's head off his shoulders. The murky assassination of Adrian Toomes. The relish and revenge he felt as he brutally slaughtered Felicia. She hadn't evaded him when he had been trying. Her leather-wrapped fingers had been the ones to take MJ from him. He had enjoyed that one the most until he reached him. An enemy long thought dead, intent on tarnishing a legacy with his image, now braindead on breaking those that led their lives through it. 

The crushing of Quentin Beck's skull between his own unsuited hands... That was what he had been thirsting. He had made sure this time. No illusions. It had been real. He couldn't be fooled. Crime rates had fallen across the globe by seventeen percent after that. His personal rule broken due to justice; torn to shreds by his own corrupted, writhing mind. Snapping point had been reached...

And now here he stood, five feet away from freedom, not a new life in the same story. Not an attempted detachment from the life he had led. But, if anything, a rewrite. A time skip backwards. A replacement of his younger self. Younger body, older mind. He wasn't sure how he would cope, but he had to do it. On his being, he carried fifteen-or-so other video drives, deep in footage and evidence. Instructions, meeting recordings, messages for past selves from future ones. 

Shuri booted up the machine. He sent a salute. One mission, Multiple tries. There was no possible way too do it wrong. He and Shuri had been over it repeatedly. All the possible ways he could muck it up, it was impossible. All he had to have were Pym particles. If he had any of them, he could retry the mission over and over. Even if Hank Pym didn't believe him in the past, he had been the one to entrust the formula onto Peter in his timeline anyway. 

Peter sighed. He intended on getting this right the first time around. Breathe. Shuri flicked the go switch. Breathe. The machines began to whir. Inhale. He had this, one shot. Exhale. One shot... He didn't have this. "Abort! Abort!" His knees collapsed and he threw up on the spot in one motion. 

"Peter!" Shouted Shuri as she ran up the steps. She levelled down with him and picked him up from the shoulders, holding him steady. "We're not going over this again." He spaced out for a moment, staring at something over her shoulder until- *slap!* "You know what to do alright. You're coming back to the point just before Happy will drive you to the Avengers Compound, find Stark. And tell. Him. Everything! Show him the evidence." She motioned toward the large pile of stuff next to him. Then she hoisted him up by the straps of his backpack, worn purely for high school emphasis. And pushed him toward the stuff lightly. "Spider-Boy, you've got this." He took a step forward and wrapped her in a giant, rib crushing hug. 

"You really are the best, like.. A perfect sister to me." Peter pulled back and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Thank you." He stepped back onto the podium again and flicked up his helmet. These short moments with Shuri helped him shun away the things that should be on his mind. It wasn't a good, or healthy coping mechanism, but it worked well enough for him. Peter strapped Steve's old Captain America shield to his back, underneath the backpack he planned on carrying in his hand and picked up Mjolnir with his right hand. The power and energy from the hammer closed his mind and let him focus. The past hammer of Thor was like an entirely new euphoria moment. Calming and pleasing for his mind as he waited. And waited. And waite-gone!

Instantaneous. He was tossed across the back of something, and straight into the nearest wall. That hurt, surprisingly more than he ever thought it would. Then again, if this was his younger body, would it be hurt more than his past one? He could only find out... 


	2. Oh Yeah. It's all coming together.

His brain and head, fuzzy, looked up. Those were the bleachers in his gym. What the hell was-... Ned was staring at him, the Lego Death Star they must've been building sat rather discarded in the middle of the floor. Ned was staring at him. Ned had been dead. For years. Tricked by the Hobgoblin. Peter began tearing up at the pure sight of someone dead, now alive. Peter flickered his eyes between his surroundings and Ned. He was staring, open mouthed, absolutely gaping at Peter. "What made you fly fifteen feet backward? With Captain America's shield and Thor's hammer with you?" He just sat there, cross legged - too dumbfounded and nerd-gasming to not speak.

Peter didn't even know what to say. He looked around, back at Ned, at the clock, back at Ned. "When's decathlon?" he managed out, still staring at Ned and the clock.

"Next period." Ned began with hesitation, staring at Peter just as much as Peter was at him. "Are you gunna answer my question or just air me?" His old best friend raised his eyebrows and motioned for Peter to speak.

"I've time traveled!" Peter threw up his arms and cracked the biggest, real smile he had had since 2018. He laughed with it as well. He laughed! He actually laughed. Ned's eyes seemed to grow even wider. He probably believed him due to a multitude of reasons. 1. His best friend was Spider-Man. 2. His best friend currently had Captain America's shield strapped to his back. and 3! Mjolnir currently sat, perfectly square on the floor about three feet away from his own left knee.

Ned seemed to make many inaudible sounds all at once for about a minute and a half whilst Peter collected himself and tried to remember anything useful. Nothing came to mind. Shuri told him to tell Tony, but now he'd already spilt the truth to Ned. Well he supposed his hand had been forced a tad. "Okay. Ned. I've got a lot to say, and you can't tell anyone. I'm gunna give you a brief run down, okay? And we'll go from there alright?" He flicked his eyes up to the clock again and decided to speak as he collected their stuff.

"We've got to get to decathlon anyway. C'mon, let's- I've got our entire future to rewrite, alright? I'm gunna need a bit of help!"It had been so long since he had seen his best friend. About three years since his murder; Peter already missed him, just from the looks on his face as he diagnosed what was going on.

Ned wouldn't move. He was still rooted to the spot, so Peter started taking. If he walked off whilst talking, Ned would be forced to follow to hear everything. "I'm from the year 2032 and theres so much stuff that I need to do. It all starts-" He checked the clock on the wall, now in view. " -in about seven minutes, there's gunna be the first branch off point. So Ned, pick up that Death Star and lets go!" His large friend hopped up onto his feet quicker than Peter had ever seen him move. Then he froze, bending down to pick up the giant Lego model.

Ned gathered himself back up again and suddenly began laughing. Uncontrollable laughter. The kind of surprising laughter from something that shouldn't be funny. "Y'know Peter, you will now never fail to surprise me.." He picked up the half finished Death Star with his arms and threw the unused parts into his back pack. Peter mirrored his actions, and picked up his large items.

Peter threw on his back pack, picked up the hammer and began his journey down the corridors toward Decathlon. He blitzed past Principal Morita on the stairs in an ambling jog for his standards. He, in the process, nearly sent the man to a very early grave. Ned squeezed past the teacher in the hallway and kept on moving after Peter with a spring in his step as he fired out questions.

The fit teen slowed to an abrupt stop as he appeared in the small doorway to the larger library they were congregating in. Peter dashed his eyes across the room in a practised analysis. Extra years of being Spider-Man, and being the most well-known human in the world forced him to develop such skills. An entrance behind him, on the opposite side of the room as well. Seven other people, he had known them, but had forgotten everything about them since. Peter's pupils danced across each ones face and tried to match it to a name from his past. There was Sally, Cindy, Roger Harrington, Abe; Flash...

Flash was in the room.. The Flash! Peter nearly cracked out laughing. He had forgotten about his high school bully. Apparently the guy had entered the military after his parents left him in 2025; but Peter didn't remember too well. By then he was already the richest man in the world by about 1.2 trillion dollars and was marrying MJ in a week and a half. The Spider continued round backwards. Abe; what happened to Abe?

Peter knew Abe. Actually knew him. Was a very good man when he learned to control his occasional bell-outburst. He mentally snickered. Peter had spent lunch round Abe's condo for about a month and a half when he was in San Fransisco helping Scott. The dude sitting not too far away became a judge, being the one who was tasked with dropping charges against Peter due to his good friend Matt Murdock's skills in a courtroom. Peter hadn't actually met any of the others from his school in his old timeline, but he had heard things and knew things.

The only one who wasn't in the room yet was MJ, Ned sliding in not a moment before he began this specific thought process. She hadn't started beginning her promptness yet. As this was the meeting that she was made captain. He took his seat, beginning to get weird looks from the others. Flash made a passing comment about his geekiness, so Peter put Mjolnir on the table and waited for Flash to try and steal the 'prop.' If Peter knew anything about Flash, as soon as his back was turned - his old bully would attempt it. Peter wrapped one of the straps of the shield around his bag and shoved it against the chair leg to his right, no one would see the clear, actual identicalness of this shield and the real one. Hopefully..

He tried to replicate his past fidgeting. And know he realised how difficult it was, to really try and be someone you weren't. Peter was a record breaker now, a revolutionary artist and a leading figure in his old world. But here. Here, he was a fifteen year old kid with three years to save the universe and no one to believe him as he did it.

He looked up from the shield mid-thought to see MJ already in her seat and staring at the hammer on the top of the table. He could barely contain himself. She was right there. His literal wife. He didn't even know how he had been thinking her name without becoming giddy. This was why. Because as soon as he saw her in her physical presence, he was instantly reminded of everything. All the time they had spent together. All the perfect moments, the very few and far between arguments. It was taking about 40% of his brain power to not leap on her and shower her with kisses and hugs. and a further 20% on not asking her about stock prices or which position they'd try tonight.. The rest of his brain was focused on her beauty, again. Something he had never realised until Liz had left. Today he had to right those wrongs, and rewrite his mistakes. After decathlon. After... He couldn't lose his cool and blow everything now. 

It was like having this meeting all over again. Peter had completely forgotten most of the moments from his High School life. However this time it did feel less drawn out, perhaps because last time he had just fought Adrian Toomes. -Toomes.. He was still out there. He knew his identity. That was a liability. When would he get EDITH? This time he would control the release of his secret identity. Loose threads and weak links would be fixed or annulled. He didn't even know where Toomes was, which prison was he in? The drones wouldn't mind anyway..

Thats when he received the notification on his phone. It buzzed at full volume. Evidently he had forgotten to silence it. "Peter. You know the rule. If it's a call, you have to have it on speaker." Spoke Mr Harrington. "The rule is stupid I know. Principle Morita's rules though."

Peter slid out his phone with all eyes in the room stuck on him. Ned looked giddy, perhaps he thought it'd be Tony Stark. Peter lifted his eyebrows to Ned and the boy quietened down. He seemed to understand. His eyes flickered to Michelle for a brief moment and stayed there. He swallowed. Hard.

The effort of dragging his gaze away from her features almost hurt. He looked at his phone. "Its not a call, its-a-I've gotta go.." Peter kicked his chair back a bit. It slid along the floor with an ear hurting, shrieking, whistle. He tried to make his leaving look less hastened then it was meant to be and collected his stuff. He bent down to pick up the shield and his bag when Flash moved. He didn't actually see it, but according to Ned, Flash tried to hit Peter with the hammer. However he couldn't pick it up. Apparently he motioned for someone to help pick it up and they were really trying.

Peter was still busy with the strap of the shield around his bag. At this point he had knelt down on the floor to untie it. Above him, Michelle was scribbling on a piece of paper and Ned was stifling his giggles as Flash and Sally failed to pick it up. Peter popped up slightly and both of them shot back to their seats, but Peter ducked back down again. Suddenly his Spider-sense flared. He stuck out a hand and caught the foot aiming at his shoulder. A piece of paper fell from where MJ was sitting and Peter rose an eyebrow again. 'Oh?' he thought and scuffled for the paper as it fluttered through the air. 'text me' was written across it and Peter audibly swallowed in sudden nervousness.

Only then did he finally untie the last bit of the strap from his bag. He really had done that a bit too well. He stood up and sorted out the bottom of his shirt. In the process revealing a bit too much abdominal for his liking, but not for MJ's. She felt her throat dry for a second, but didn’t break her posture or facial expression.

One step away and he began to compose himself. 'Hammer.' He forgot. With a bit too much elegance, he spun on the spot and whipped the hammer up from the table with minimal adjustment.

Subtlety wasn’t his area of expertise. He sent a thumbs up to MJ and tried to pass it off as aiming at Ned. Confirming the fact that he had seen her message. He took a right as he turned out and went toward the bathroom where Happy said to meet him. He didn’t get to speak to MJ now, but he would definitely text her as soon as he could, which would probably be as soon as decathlon was over. She would probably want to set a good example as captain. 'Captain.' She hadn't been made captain. Had he spaced out? Was he not listening? Had Happy text earlier this time round? He did really regret not being there to support MJ during her appointing as captain, but she was MJ. He had learnt a few things from his marriage to her. Females were definitely superior, she didn’t need help, and she was a complete badass. He had learnt much more, but those were really the only important ones for this specific situation.

He entered the bathroom where he met Happy and dreamed through the conversation. MJ still taking up the forefront of his mind. He did respond where he had to and was currently following Happy out into the car, avoiding the way he came, as to dodge his decathlon team.

Within three minutes they were already rolling out the main car park onto the traffic heavy New York roads. It was a very slow crawl north, but as they passed through the Route 100 they began blitzing past the other drivers like a comfy, slightly blurring bullet. They ploughed on along the White Plains and emerged on the other side of the urban sprawl toward the great grassy expanses with the south running River Hudson beside them.

The upstate area seemed to be ripped right out of a stock photo. Peter had never seen anything quite like it. His brain and eyes were used to densely populated apartments, annoyed taxi drivers and bustling workers. It was only as they continued their monotonous drive past Albany that Peter noticed the almost eerie quiet of the area and the car. Music. Thats what he needed. Take his brain off things and allow himself to drift off as the car continued its self. So what if he needed to save the world in a little under three years. He had three years. Two things were always on his mind though: MJ, and Tony. Tony's death is where everything went wrong last time. It couldn't happen again. That was a must have priority. And MJ's safety was essential. If anyone so much as looked at her in a less than neutral look, he would personally destroy them, no matter who they were.

The headphones went in and his brain calmed, no longer focused on the lack of distraction from the daunting future, mind-breaking past and eerie silence. Usually he would be talking the entire trip at Happy. Not to, as that would require replies to his spewings. He didn’t have anything to say, he would let Tony tell Happy, the bodyguard and driver wouldn't believe him anyway.

Happy must've thought something was up as he constantly and consistantly looked back toward Peter every fifteen minutes. But to him, Peter was just rocking along to whatever music he was listening to and staring, smiling at the hills and cars that passed. The kid was pure.

Scenery eventually and abruptly blended and mixed. Sudden road 'fortifications' appeared every now and then. Fences now lined either side of the road, steel pillars enforcing their support. The car began to slow and rounded a tight corner. Only then did Peter get his first view of the place. It was magnificent. The beauty of such a building was underrated. Unfortunately it was nowhere near full capacity. It was truly an amazing sight when it was, a beacon of light and a signal of strength. Glass panelling stretching twenty feet up in sudden angular, precise and crafty ways. The Avenger's Compound. Just as amazing as all those years ago. Some things he would never get used to.

Peter nearly tore out of the car as it came to a stop. Luckily for him, Happy didn't even question the stuff he had with him when he entered. But Tony was different. He knew enhanced metals when he saw them.

Tony then arrived. The man's grace and energy leaking out into the surrounding area. Peter felt his jaw break with the smile he let out. Tony mirrored it for a second, then let it form into an eyebrow raised smirk.

He should have the shield that Peter was holding. And yet the kid seamed to have it.He asked Friday, but she insisted that he had the other shield in storage. Weird. Smart school? Tony settled on that and decided he would ask the kid anything later on. Preferably tomorrow. The drive back would take far too long for Happy to do safely, and he would absolutely not carry a sleeping Peter up to floor seven. Yeah, he'd keep them both around for tomorrow at least. Maybe tour the compound with Peter and Pepper tomorrow. All those thoughts were dumped as Peter bounced up the steps and wrapped Tony in a giant hug that seemed to crush his ribs more than the shield had when it had slammed into the arc reactor. "I've got so much to tell you, Tony." The kid began and Tony smirked.

"No Mr. Stark anymore?" He replied as he watched Happy spin the car round the corner into the car park. Tony looked back over the trees toward the south. He sighed. It had been a long time since he had been in New York City. He didn’t exactly miss it. Expansive grass plains was much nicer for the eyes. Then he brought his mind back to Earth. He turned on the spot slowly and signalled for the kid to walk with him.

"It's been too long since I last saw you, Tony.." Tony looked into the kid's bright eyes. They were steaming over and glistening. Was this kid crying?

Tony kept walking. Kept looking. The Kid had real emotion written on his face. And his eyes seems to be darker round the edges. It was almost disturbing how different they looked to the last time he had seen them. ”Kid, its been about six months." Peter stopped them both at the revolving door and spoke again.

"Not for me." There was a determination in his face. It was actually kind of freaky. This kid who often looked so much like a confused fish or an adorable, bouncing puppy looked haunted and stone like. 

"Your kinda scaring me, Kid." Laughed Tony, trying to really bring something into the situation other than the raw existential crisis that seemed to be brewing beneath both of their skins. Tony put a hand on Peter’s shoulder and began walking again. Slower this time round.

"I'm gunna sound crazy to you, Tony. And don’t interrupt." Tony nodded and wrapped his arm around the kids shoulders and the shield. They were now inside the building fully, taking their looping route across the reception area toward where the suit would pop out in a few moments. Peter finally wrapped up the will power to say it as he pictured the suit behind the glass. "I'm a time traveler. From 2032."

Tony went still. Absolutely rigid. His face lost most colour and his head snapped over to him. "Could you repeat yourself kid? Im not overly fluent in bullshit. Even if Rogers has been giving me lessons since 2012." Alright. Perhaps that was bit harsher than he meant for it to come out. But Tony would argue that it sounded so ridiculous that he had a foot to stand on.

Peter sighed then huffed. Another small, stiff smile dwelled and trembled on his lips.

"Didn't think you'd believe me. Okay. I've got evidence, like a lot. I've got video, photo, physical.." The kid stopped to tap the shield with the thing he was holding.

"Oh shit." Said Tony. Because that, the item he was holding was Mjolnir. No doubt about it. That was Thor's. Thor's hammer, and no Thor was here.

“If you’re gunna tell me you’ve got Thor and Brucie-Bear in the back of the car then I’ll be inclined to think your not lying as much..” Tony too gestured over his shoulder toward where Happy had wielded the car along the road. 

“Not quite.” Peter nearly laughed. He had missed this. This comedy. The sarcasm. Tony in general. ”I’m going to assume you wanna see this now before you show me the suit and ask if I wanna be an Avenger. The answer is yes. Not because I want to, but because, right now, I have to be." Peter had long since turned to Tony face on, but now turned back round and began moving toward the stairs and a meeting room that would be comfy enough. "Fri, could you unlock room 4-d?"

"You do not have the required level to enter that sector." Her words rung out as he hoped up the stairs three at a time.

He muttered something that Tony only just caught. ”Oh yeah, I’m not CEO anymore am I.." Tony furrowed his brow and began racing after the kid as fast as his healing ribs would allow him.

Tony analysed that muttered comment. "You were CEO? What year did you say you were from again? 2032? You'd be 31 years old!"

"Wrong." Peter stated. He stopped at the top of the stairs, much to Tony’s secret approval. "And no, I wasn’t 32. I was 26." That was confusing. How could Peter just no age for five years? 

"That not how basic math works Peter." He spoke, now leading again to room 4-D. Even if the Kid seemed to know exactly where it was.

It was all rather sudden. One second the kid was charging around and bouncing on his toes and off of the walls. And the next time he looked back at him he was angry. Pissed even. He looked fresh to erupt.

"But it is how it works if a giant, purple, mad titan turns half the fucking population of the entire universe into dust with a snap of his fingers!" Peter's voice rose in spikes as he spoke. It broke occasionally as well as he continued. Anger was seeping into his voice and he was trying to hold it back as much as possible. Because this was Tony "Sorry. You don’t deserve that. At all. Your the best there ever was." Peter slapped a hand to his forehead and rubbed it fiercely. This was difficult. Living all of this again. Well, he never really expected it to be easy.

"Alright, I may be egotistical, but thats a bit far Kid." Tony said, swiping open the room and holding the door open for Peter. The Kid slid in, still rubbing his head. Now with both hands.

Peter brought his hands down and onto the table. Leaning on it for support almost. He looked as if he was deciding on something. What words to say? How much he could say?

"No. You created time travel after five years. You were Iron Man, you were a husband, a father, the hero everyone needed." The Kid’s shoulders relaxed a tiny bit and he sighed again. Falling back into a nearby chair with another yet huff. 

Tony moved away from the door. He planned on getting as much info as he could from Peter now. The press conference would have to wait. “Five years of what?" He too pulled up a chair and settled into it nicely.

"Decimation."

Tony thought about everything Peter had said so far and tried to draw it all to a short summary and conclusion. "So what? This mad man snapped his fingers, did a little dance and half the population of the entire universe disappeared like it'd be blown up in some old cartoon?"

"Pretty much." Said Peter grimly. His eyes fell to the floor. I'll start from the top, I guess." He unpacked his bag and put stacks upon stacks of drives on the table. "Those were Clint, uh Wade, Logan, Matt.." Tony noticed that some piles were considerable larger than others and quizzed Peter on it. "Some people thought to let whatever play out as it did, some I didn’t know for very long.. Some are planning on telling their past selves everything down to the perfect chicken grilled sandwich. Tony eyed the names painted across each stack of disks and hard drives. No Steve, No Nat, No Tony. Bruce's pile was almost nonexistent. Thor's pile was much the same as Bruce’s it contained about five things. A couple of photos and a phone number or two. 'Stephen Strange' had a huge pile. Almost twice the size of anyone else’s. Apart from Peter's. The poor kid had seven different stacks just for himself.

"Why do you have so much, Kid?" Tony stood up and dragged his chair behind him. It bumped into his leg when he stopped at the edge of the table. He fingered Thor’s pile gently. ’Stormbreaker.’ ‘Mjolnir from the wizard.’ None of it really made much sense, but he supposed thats why he was here to listen to Peter.

"We'll need them." The Kid spoke, still placing more stuff here and there. Occasionally he would travel back to an older pile or decided between two piles. Eventually, when he stopped, the entire table was covered in stuff.

"No. You." Tony motioned specifically toward the giant pillar of stuff with Peter’s name slashed across them on every face it could be written. 

Peter picked up one from the middle of the pile and sighed in turn. An exasperated sigh really. This was stressful. Tiring. And in reality, he just wanted a sandwich. "I need to remember everything.” Peter placed the disk back down at the top of the pile and smiled at the next one he picked up. “I’ve got to make sure everything goes perfectly this time round." He hugged the drive close to his chest and looked to Tony, almost expecting a response. 

"Well what went wrong last time? We'll go from there Kid." Peter seemed to have an inward struggle in response. He evidently needed to tell someone what had experienced. 

"Okay. New York, April 27th, 2018. Uh Friday, anything I say, can you note it down and sort it out -ordered, please?" Friday interrupt almost immediately and the Kidjust seemed to deflate a bit with annoyance.

"You do not have per-“ But Tony was quick to pop up and override that.

"Friday just listen to the kid. Give him my priority level." Peter smiled at him and Tony felt enlightened by the sheer look of it.

"Yes, Boss. -And Boss Jr" She added upon second process. Tony watched as Peter brought a screen down from the ceiling with a gesture that only he and Pepper knew, and continued where he was getting to before Friday intervened.

"Two aliens arrive in Greenwich Village." Peter was trying to build himself up again. Once he was confident, and his words were coming out it would be alright. Public speaking still really wasn’t his thing. 

"Only two? Sounds easy, bet we socked 'em right back to the space ship they arrived on." Tony said with a grin and a smirk.

"Except we didn’t. A giant one. About the size of the hulk. Not nearly as strong, but just about more than Bucky or Steve had been." He elaborated with maybe a tad too much detail. Tony didn’t really need to know every detail Peter could quite remember. But once more Tony was inquisitive and interrupted Peter. Well, Tony probably did need to know everything now that he thought about it.

"Had been?" Peter looked down again upon realising the slip up and what he would have to reveal because of it.

"Steve died of old age after the time travel- and.. And.. I...I killed Bucky."

"Y-you?" Choked out Tony, staring at the kid with 'some' emotion. It was surprise and shock but it was rolled up sweet. Someone he trusted got revenge for his mom.

"Yeah. I'll.. I'll tell you that I guess. Clear your brain and help you focus on Thanos.." Peter cleared his throat. "November, 10th, uhh 2029. Zemo reemerged. He stormed us, The Avengers, right where we stood in Kiev, and stole Bucky from right beneath our noses. I was over in San Fransisco, again. Helping Scott with a bug problem. Again.." Sam led a mission to find Bucky. He was desperate to not lose another member of the team. We were on the verge of breaking apart. Willpower and morale was weak to be honest.” Peter clears his throat anxiously but keeps speaking. Shuri’s words of ‘Tell Tony Everything’ in his head. “Once more it was a group of individuals. Apart from a few selected people that was.” Peter cools himself and a drink appears in front of him somehow. "I get called back in to Europe and Sam leads again, we delve deep into Kazakhstan. Sam doesn't come back out. His Falcon Wings had iced up in the intense cold.He got frostbite on both legs. And Zemo was there. Sam didn't stand a chance. He was weak anyway from the cold. We think he's done. And we’re just kinda standing there. Zemo about twenty, thirty feet away on some kinda ledge. Sam’s screaming at me, Loki and Wade to run and flee. But-"

"Im sorry, Loki? New York? Peter, god!" 

"Oh. Yeah. Um, Loki was forced into that by Thanos, the big purple man. He used some weird mind control on him or something. Thor found Loki again after the Blip. Although he still wont tell us how. Guess I'll never know." He spaces out for merely half a second, but Tony snaps his fingers impatiently.

"Uh, where was I- But we try and help him anyway. The blizzard around us is only picking up. And that’s when he arrived.. Maybe it would’ve gone different if he was later. But Bucky arrives through the snow, and at the time we were stupid. We think the tides have turned. But Bucky and Zemo never mixes well. Zemo just starts laughing. And laughing. It turns into cackling. Suddenly, Bucky shoots me twice. In my abs and the hip flexor. He's had Hydra agents pump him full of brain-warping shit again.” Peter hoists up his shirt and looks at his muscle. There’s a slug mark right into the right, top abdominal. He looks at it for a second, almost surprised that its there but continues as if he was expecting it.

“Loki got Zemo in the end.” The god had focused himself on the farther away ones as he wasn’t affected as much by the cold. “He got most of Zemo's Hydra army as well. That left.. Well, me and Wade. We had to fight Bucky.” He swallows and speaks again, not bothering to help his parched throat with the liquid in his right hand. “Wade had a knife slice off a leg and we honestly thought he might lose it. His healing factor was affected by the intense cold. Bucky’s on the back foot against both of us though. Wade and Loki leave back to New York and try and help Sam. But I.. I ended up following and trailing Bucky through Poland. Prussia. Ukraine. I continued non-stop until I managed to stop him in Finland..." The kid shakes for a second thinking about it. "That attack broke the team. And was probably the reason I'm here today. I was managing before. We were coping, I guess. But Zemo broke us all apart again." Tony offers forward a comforting hand toward him. Peter steps a way for a second and then leans into the touch.

"Sam fell into a condition induced coma and never woke up. He had both legs and his left hand amputated from the cold. His back was broken, paralysed as well." Bucky had got to him during the fight.

"Wade was fine, his healing was always there to pick him back up together. However he never really branched out after that. He was probably emotionally roughed up, and nothing ever got to Wade.. He really identified with Bucky. I think it hurt him more than Sam when he never came back. He helped me when I had 'My Clearing.' But so did Matt and Logan. Our little group was feared across the world.." Peter spaces out and smiles stiffly slightly.

“I’m gunna come back to all these people afterward. Don’t worry.. Let me just-" Peter wipes and eye and sniffles slightly.

"Kid, take your time. Im not rushing you. Your own pace. Friday is getting this all down anyway. Go back to the main attack. 2018?

* * *

* * *

"And you snapped." Peter snaps his fingers and falls down into a chair. His been speaking for the best part of six hours.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. Thanos disappears, his army collapses and you just fall down. Leaned up against this rubble. Rhodey, Pepper, Me. We all gathered round and we all have a small moment. I-I still.. Your final word was 'Kid.' I could here it." 

Tony wraps him up in a giant hug and starts pressing light kisses onto his scalp. "You dealt with all this?"

"And so much more. So much..." 

"Tell me all of it. I'll listen. I'll help. Even if you wanna summarise. Its good to get it off your chest."

"Yeah. Yeah. That would probably be best.”

* * *

* * *

His voice hurt. Croaky. Hoarse. Peter’s vocal chords were worn thin from speaking near-constantly for eight and a half hours. “Anything else Kid? You haven’t exactly told me why you decided to hop in a time machine created by Shuri.” 

Peter nods and rolls out agreement. He clears his throat and takes another drink. “Um.. MJ, she’s a girl from my school..” He’s talking slowly. Making sure he says the right things. Tony doesn’t want to here everything about MJ. “We were married. And.. And all of my villains decided to form some club. They all banded together.. And.. That was that. She was ripped from me in about ten seconds. I never saw her again. I got my revenge in the end. I had to. For everyone I had lost. I killed them all. I enjoyed it." Something morbid appeared in his eyes as he spoke and Tony's eyes widened. He understood however. If someone had stormed into his house and stolen Pepper then he’d destroy them too. He tried to comfort Peter any more than he already was doing.

"So how is this girl now? If she’s from your school you surely saw her today." Tony triggered conversation again. He won’t press if Peter doesn’t want to speak, but something tells him the Kid want’s to.

"Yeah. Yeah. I. We spoke." Peter smiles more than he has all day, including his period of 2032 during the last 24 hours. Tony ruffles his hair and gets to the point. He’s already typing away at his phone before speaking. Friday has alerted ‘MJ’ before he looks back up at the Kid.

"Lets get her down here then. We can get on a jet tomorrow morning and get her down here.”

Peter smiles up at him. “I’d like that.”


	3. Parker Luck pulls through

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things do go Peter's way after all. Huh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you read this chapter: I feel like MJ's actions are not that far ooc as its made pretty clear that she watches and has a crush on Peter during Homecoming.

Bumbling down the stairs he goes, overlooking Tony in a kitchen that was easily twice the size of his an May's apartment. The billionaire looks up toward the kid and motions toward a chair. "How's getting up early for a change?" Tony asks, pushing a bowl of assorted fruit toward Peter.

"Eh. Never gunna be used to it. Even after 26 years.”

"Well Kid, I still haven't got it after 44 years, so don't expect it anytime soon. Come on, eat up." Tony pushes the bowl even closer to Peter. It slides across the worktop and bumps into his arm. Cautiously, Peter grabs a slab of watermelon and munches on it after Tony's encouraging, 'speed up' gestures. Peter didn't like other people making food for him anymore really. If he hadn't watched it be prepared he became suspicious of it. "We're touring the compound today. If we're gunna be saving the planet in three years time then you're gunna need energy. And you're gunna need to know your way around this place.”

In about twenty minutes they're both stepping out the door clad in Tony's clothes. The billionaire refused to let Peter wear yesterday's stuff today as well. "I've already text your aunt kid. So don't worry about that. Just before the tour however.." Tony double taps his glasses frame and the helicopter pad a good many metres away opens up to reveal a Quinjet slowly rising from beneath. Peter grins at it and starts moving in its direction. The back opens up as it fully unveils, and Peter doesn't spare a moment to hop inside. "Buckle up, Buckaroo." 

* * *

* * *

An hour round trip later and they're touching down on the compounds ground again. This time MJ is with them, reading. Because who cares about the Avengers when you can read Harry Potter for the seventh time this week. Peter knew she'd regret not looking around when she became the next CEO of Stark Industries upon the companies request.

MJ more or less stuck to following Peter round. She probably felt out of place. But now she definitely didn't and never really did doubt anything people said about Peter and his internship. MJ wasn't listening to anything Tony was saying. She only caught the odd word from Peter until she departed toward a tree after a quick word of acknowledgement with Peter. It was hard not to stick following and going round with her High School crush, but she was also incredibly introverted. So it rather helped to be further away and to observe from a distance.

Peter watched her leave with regret. He should've involved her in conversation or something. Drag her away from her book for once. He huffed and listened to what Tony was rambling on about this time. He smiled at the man anyway, despite the feelings he had as he looked at MJ.

"Then Pepper can join us in a few moments when she's done freshening up." Damn. If Pepper arrived then they probably wouldn't stop touring round the entire building all day. He had a few things he need to do by the upcoming end of the week. And as it evidently looked like MJ wouldn't be too keen on staying overnight here, then he only really had this one chance to ask her out.

"Oh. Uh." He scuffles for an immediate response, because, speak of the Devil. Pepper appeared atop the hill they were standing on. Peter began blinking rapidly. Tony wasn't looking and it would make his eyes water.

"Something wrong with Pepper Kid?" Tony asked. He was referring toward Peter's initial confused response. "She kinda keeps this entire place ticking. If anything you should be thanki-" Elaborates Tony. In the process putting a hand out for Pepper to take as she drew closer.

"Tony! No, no, nuh-" He interupts anything Pepper might've heard. "I'd love Pepper to be here as well... Just- I've got this.. perfume allergy." He reasons with himself more than anyone else looking at him and is already beginning to step away. "I'll just go get some fresh air on the balcony back there or something. You have fun with your wife." Peter struggles to not break into a sprint as he carves a path back along the grounds toward the main building. He did kinda forget that they weren't married yet. Neither of them seemed to comment on it however as he left in a hurry.

Pepper wheeled round to Tony with a 'look'. The genius couldn't quite figure out what it was meant to be exactly. "You didn't tell me Peter had a perfume allergy!”

"Well I didn't know myself!" He reasons back in a loud whisper. "The kid had never said anything, besides, he looked fine next to scary girl over there!" He jabs a thumb over his shoulder toward the tree outside that MJ had broken from the group at.

Peter entered the main building and looked around for MJ. She was here. She kinda had to be. The tree had been empty, he had even climbed up it to check that. Besides, MJ was who he wanted to see in the first place.

Friday helped him in the end. Despite his insistence of finding MJ himself. She was lounging up on the balcony he spoke about to Tony and Pepper. She was reading. Still. Best fix that then. "Hey." Peter began, stepping lightly onto the lower levelled floor. MJ mirrored his greeting and folded the corner over on her book. Peter stepped further away from the doorframe. Arms coming up as he leaned on the railing. MJ watched him. Intently. Her book went down and she walked round onto his right side.

They watched out over the multi-million-dollar-costing expanse with flickering eyes. Only after half an hour did MJ turn around. Now she leaned backward against the railing on her arms. He traced his eyes down her frame. Just like he remembered. Perfect in every way he could think of. He smiled at her but forced himself to stop staring. MJ wouldn't appreciate the pressurising looks.

It wasn't for another five minutes that they moved. MJ would bring her hand up to and play with his hair occasionally as it flapped in the wind like a half mast flag. She seemed to be doing without realising. But he wasn't stopping her, far from it. Gradually voices then began to arrive along the wind currents. A female laughing as the other voice made some rambling, bambling speech. Peter recognised them as Pepper and Tony and looked down beneath. The two CEO's were slowly walking underneath the balcony and into the building. He didn't focus on what they were talking about. But MJ evidently did. 'Pepper was laughing at Tony imitating Peter near perfume?’

"You don't actually have a perfume allergy do you?" She asked. Peter was surprised, flatly. Neither had said a word since they had exchanged greetings. They hadn't really had to say anything. She began drawing away, increasing the distance between them slightly to spare him if he truly did have the allergy.

"God, no." He was quick to react. Quicker than the old him would've been in the situation. Peter laughed. Dragging her back into him with his forearm. It looped round her waist like it had been constantly over the years before. He never wanted to move. Frozen in time in this moment. He would not care. Incased in ash by a volcanic plume, meh... This felt right. "I just needed an excuse”

"Well thats.. good." MJ nervously wrapped her fingers on the handrail in a staccato rhythm. Peter listened and wondered why she was saying she would drown his goldfish in morse code. She brought a hand up to her hair and nervously scratched it. "Look Peter. I-I like you. As in, more than a friend kinda thing. and. well, I didn't know what you liked so I kind of just threw on everything I had, perfume wise, obviously. To try and get your attention, that is." He laughed softly and smiled up in support and pulled her into a side hug. He ignored what she said and that seemed to worry her. He wasn't saying anything. That was bad right. The Peter she thought she knew would stutter and stumbled and let out that he also like her by accident. Well, the Peter she knew probably would've already said it. From Peter's point of view MJ almost looks as if she wants to leave. But something in her is making her stay and he cant tell what it is.

"That wasn't funny. That was a pity laugh..." She reprimands him in the act and he just smiles at her more than he already had been. Its more of a grin. The grin that melts her heart with every passing second. Peter made a few sounds of disagreement toward her comment but didn't bother to say anything. If it was an argument with MJ, he would always lose. "What did you need an excuse for?" She brings her hands up and plays with the strap of the shield on his back. He had put it back there this morning. Peter had actually been hoping to start on his plan that he was slowly forming today. He really liked carrying it round. It gave him a burden almost. It made him feel slightly more important.

"Oh, I should choose words more carefully.." He mentally facepalms and tries to laugh it off as if its like his old teenage angst and stupidity. He fails miserably. Still focusing on how he's going to reveal and break everything to her.

"Ok. I've needed to talk to you since Decathlon. Something's happened. And if I stop talking now, then I'll most likely, one hundred percent, never have the guts to say any of this to you." Michelle nods stiffly to him, he mirrors it while still only looking at her.

"I am Spider-man." Peter watches MJ's face shift and morph. And fall. At first she was shocked. Amazed. Then almost worried? A flash of panic flushes across but he keeps talking to drag her mind off of it all. "And as of yesterday, a time traveler." He was very quick to splutter back into conversation. He really didn't want to make MJ think he was a liar. He kept on forgetting that this MJ didn't know anything about him. Well only what she could observe. Which was a lot. He knew that. Peter wore his heart and mind on his sleeves. "I know its stupid and sounds like I'm making all this up to impress you or whatever.." She looks dead at him and narrows her eyes into thin slits. This is where he expects her to slap him, turn around and avoid him forever. But she tilts her head and nods to continue.

"Im from 2032 and... a lot of shit has happened! Like so much stuff that if we wrote it all down it would take up like 24 books.." He laughed off his geekiness to calm himself a bit. Then he focused once more. His brain started short circuiting as he stared at her lips. His jaw flopped open, and before he could stop himself the words started pouring out again. "Can i... can i?" He reigned in control of his outburst quicker than he thought he would be able to. His breathing levelled out. Staring at her. "Y'know what.. fuck it... we were married for six years.”

His legs are released and he moves into action. Both arms come around from in front and beside him - onto her face and jaw. They pull her down a half-inch. Then he's on autopilot. Its all natural now. Years of practise perfected on his behalf. Even with her gone he had never forgotten how to kiss her. Peter pulls up to her and locks their lips with as much passion as he can manage for the time they lost together.

She was pushing back into him almost instantly. She seemed to be in a frenzy. Driven crazy but kind of confused. That first kiss, teenager kinda thing. And maybe something more. He restricted from putting in tongue but still managed to make her moan into the kiss with a deep throatiness. He can feel the warmth radiate from her cheeks, and only continue to glow with some nervous, ethereal aura. He would summarise, if forced to, that MJ tastes of chocolate. Dark chocolate that is. So slightly darker then herself. But he drinks it in none the less. A richness in the flavour leads him to delve deeper into her. A hint of coffee hidden in. It turns him on. Intoxicating. Controlling. Now he decides that its the right time to enter in his tongue. It quickly dominates her's with no competition and goes straight for her pressure point. Just above her canines. That's when her knees seem to go weak and she melts into him. Her hands come up to his arms and broad shoulders and she can't get enough. MJ has a mind to fuck him right here on the balcony. But she needs to breathe. She triggers the separation of each other and feels really bad about it. They pull apart, both regretting the parting and together missing the warmth their mouths had withheld. She wipes her corner of her lip on the back of her sweatshirt's long sleeve slightly and licks the rest of the area. Through intaking breathes and a giant smile she starts talking. He doesn't want her to though. He wants to save this moment. Commit it to memory. Because that was so much better than last time. Three years earlier, and without Tower Bridge burning around them. "What the fuck? On a monumental scale.. Liz? Hello?" She’s still smiling and he smiles back and leans forward again.

"S'was a ploy..." Peter says, intaking breathe shortly to save him for the rest of the conversation. "Her dad was a super villain." He elaborates, lying through his teeth to her. Peter smiles again and presses another kiss to her nose before she can bat him away. She laughs lightly and warmly.

"Tell me your story then. Mr Time Traveller." She looks at him and takes his hand in hers in encouragement. He splutters for a second but she squeezes his hand in comfort and in confidence boosting within her own. He's smitten already. God he missed her. So, so much.

"Its -what? April 2018. We're going on a field trip to MMOMA. Uh. A giant, alien space doughnut arrives in New York. Skip forward through the fighting and I'm in space with Tony and a wizard!" His smile widens as he speaks and MJ just watches him. "Uhg. Uh.. We go to an alien planet, fight the big bad guy. And we.. We lost. Badly.”

MJ squeezes his hand harder this time. She even makes the gap between them smaller. Really, he does appreciate it. He knows MJ isn't the most physical when it comes to showing emotion, especially when she's 15. But Peter doesn't say anything on it. He shouldn't and it wouldn't be his place in all honesty. "Half of the universe turns to dust. And.. And for five years that was it. Me, You, Ned: all dead for five years. Then Bruce snaps a gauntlet that the Avengers put together through time travel.. We're back. But.. Nat" He calms himself. "Nat sacrificed herself trying to get the infinity stones. Then Thanos attacks. The Avengers had been betrayed. They fight a younger, more powerful Thanos. But this time they're together. And they win. Tony... Tony sacrifices himself to do so." He sniffles lightly and turns to her a bit more.

"Ned knows this. Tony knows this. and now you as well. But they don't know everything. They know what they need to know. But. MJ. I-. I love you. Like. A lot.. A lot, a lot." Neither of them would be able to tell how many emotions each of the other was feeling in that sentence. But you could see it in themselves none the wiser. "I think you can tell. So- Uh, would you wanna be m-.." He tries to ask the question knowing both of their feelings.

"Yes." She interrupts and looks desperate in her eyes.

"Yes? You wanna-?" Asks Peter, a smile bordering on breaking out.

"Yes." She repeats. His dam breaks. The smile is out and tears feel close to coming to the surface. They link hands and his left one comes up to her face. His two main fingers brush away a stray hair from her vision.

"Cool. Like. Fuck. Yes! This is..." Peter is smiling as big as his facial muscles can allow him to. "This is great. Phew. That would've been bad if you didn't want to." His hand comes back down but she catches it. In one smooth, fluid motion: she places it back where it had been and pulls his head toward her.

She kisses his head and then him again on the lips. "Trust me Loser, I want to."


End file.
